A 204-minute Russian fever dream where fashion shoots hide occult conspiracies in crumbling St. Petersburg.
A fashionable Moscow Photographer receives an order unprecedented in mystery and cost: five oriental-type models in stylized costumes should pose for him against the background of the ruins of the westernmost city in Russia - St. Petersburg, and the sequence of shooting locations is strictly defined. Performing an exotic task, the Photographer realizes that the Customer is not really interested in the pictures. He needs to get hold of a photographic relic from the beginning of the XX century, which is kept by the Photographer.
Cinematography
Ruins of St. Petersburg shot like a dying beautiful corpse.
Costume
Oriental-stylized fashion that screams hidden ritual purpose.
Director
Dmitriy Svetozarov
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Svetozarov adapted this from Yevgeny Kharitonov's cult novel, itself inspired by real St. Petersburg esoteric circles.
The 'westernmost city' framing inverts Russia's identity crisis—St. Petersburg as European wound that won't heal.
RU
